Outlines the social and practical problems faced by foster care graduates and discusses these issues in the light of recent research in England and Wales. Offers ideas on how these problems may be ameliorated in general and outlines the way the new British child care law has provided a framework for action by practitioners. (AA)

Psychosocial smoking prevention studies have shown inconsistent results and theory-driven programs have been related to program success. This meta-analysis was used as a judgment tool for resolving these issues by estimating average program effects and investigating the relative efficacy of program types. The present study examined 65 adolescent…

The Secretary of Special Education of Puerto Rico has been searching for ways to offer appropriate special education services for young people between 13 and 21 years of age whose educational level does not allow them to benefit from current prevocational or vocational services. At present groups are being organized to offer services for…

This workbook provides exercises, role-playing activities, and self-evaluation activities to help deaf adolescents become more aware of their level of assertiveness and the ways assertive behavior can assist in daily living situations. Assertiveness is different from aggressiveness and passiveness, and many people learn through their families and…

Intended for adolescents, the booklet presents case studies of eight teenagers and their friends to illustrate views of ability and disability. Recounted experiences focus on attitudes and feelings of students with learning disabilities, epilepsy, spina bifida, visual impairments, mental retardation, deafness, and mental illness. Narratives center…

Three tests of daily living skills for retarded adolescents were developed and validated: making purchases, seeking jobs, and using banks. These three tests were adapted from three of the nine sections of the Social and Prevocational Information Battery (SPIB), a test made up mostly of true-false items. Each of the three tests were developed in…

This booklet discusses the importance to adolescents and adults with mental retardation of learning how to respond correctly to the many variations in home, work, and community activities in order to be successful in integrated settings. The difficulties individuals with mental retardation have in generalizing skills learned in one situation to a…

This booklet is designed for teachers and counselors in middle schools and high schools who are teaching the Sharing Today and Responsibility Tomorrow (START) Curriculum. The mission of the START Curriculum is to help students develop strong character by providing them with awareness, knowledge, and skills for building healthy relationships with…

A mother of an adolescent daughter with blindness and learning disabilities focuses on how she helped her daughter improve reading and writing skills by finding a meaningful purpose for those skills in daily life. This article discusses early signs of learning problems, the learning environment, talking books, books in braille, technology,…

A rehabilitation teacher at the Kansas State School for the Blind describes her job. Her main responsibilities are to teach a transition class to older high school students and to be at the local community college to assist students to be successful in that setting. Students are taught cooking, cleaning skills, and skills for independent apartment…

Presents a model--consistent with formulations in developmental psychology and psychopathology--that extends attachment theory to late adolescence. Discusses attachment in the context of life-span development, stress, coping, and adjustment. Favors addressing methodological challenges in order to validate attachment-based developmental and…

Junior and senior high school social studies teachers and teachers of the mildly handicapped (primarily learning disabled) in New Jersey (N=195) responded to a social issues survey. For each of 14 social issues, they were asked to indicate the frequency with which the issue was included in the instructional program, its importance, their own level…

The author offers curriculums, teaching guides, assessment instruments, and course descriptions for teaching independent living skills to handicapped adolescents and young adults. A guide on cooking and eating is designed to teach students how to use cooking utensils, cook healthy meals, plan nutritious meals, shop wisely, and budget food…

Described is a prevocational evaluation and training program which serves 30 educable and trainable mentally handicapped students, 16 to 21 years of age, by simulating actual work conditions and training students in social behaviors, grooming, attitudes, and skills appropriate to a work environment. Procedures are explained for student referral…

This set of six activity books and a teacher's guide is designed to help students from eighth grade to adulthood with special needs to learn independent living skills. The activity books have a reading level of 2.5 and address: (1) "How to Get Well When You're Sick or Hurt," including how to take a temperature, see a doctor, and use medicines…